For those using (or wanting to use) the SQL Server driver for PHP via PDO, Brian Swan has a handy resource for you - a PDO Cheat Sheet.

With this weeks release of the SQL Server Driver for PHP 2.0 CTP 1 (which includes a PDO driver for SQL Server), I need to get up to speed quickly. And, the truth is, Iâ€™m fairly inexperienced with PDO, so a cheat sheet is helping me learn the API. Besides, there are some constants that are database specific...I donâ€™t stand a chance of keeping those at the ready without a cheat sheet.

This cheat sheet is for this first release of the PDO driver, so it'll probably change as time goes on, but it's a good starting place. You can find out more details about the methods and constants mentioned on the PDO page of the PHP.net site.

Arniie had an interesting experience with taking the Zend Certified Engineer test recently - especially once he found an unfair advantage.

So we embarked on a voyage of PHP/Zend (re-)discovery, we booked iBuildings to do a re-examination of our PHP knowledge - a refresher course if you will. [...] In exam euphoria (and depression) [after coworkers had taken the exam] a few questions were discussed to demonstrate the intensity of the exam. I promptly 'googled': "PHP extensions using the dl() function" and low and behold: http://www.exam4test.com/200-500.htm

His google result turned up a page with 20 example questions from the test and the possibility of more just $49 USD more. The site was providing a direct means to pass the test without knowing much PHP at all. He notes that this one thing is enough to disillusion his about the quality and merit of the exam.

One of the more elusive concepts of programming can be working with regular expressions. Now, there's lots of places to learn them and to get a handle on what they can do (such as this book), but what if you don't need the full-blown reference and just want a quick and dirty reference source? AddedBytes.com is happy to be of service with their latest cheat sheet divided up into the different formats (anchors, character classes, assertions, escape characters, etc).

The Regular Expressions cheat sheet is designed to be printed on an A4 sheet of paper and live by a designer or developer's desk, to make life a bit easier. A description of what is on the cheat sheet follows, or if you are impatient, you can go straight to the full size Regular Expressions cheat sheet.

This time, they've posted it in a few different formats, including a torrent file to make for faster/easier download. They still have the usual methods (PDF and PNG) but you'll need to visit the page for those links - it's been requested not to directly link to them.

One of the more elusive concepts of programming can be working with regular expressions. Now, there's lots of places to learn them and to get a handle on what they can do (such as this book), but what if you don't need the full-blown reference and just want a quick and dirty reference source? AddedBytes.com is happy to be of service with their latest cheat sheet divided up into the different formats (anchors, character classes, assertions, escape characters, etc).

The Regular Expressions cheat sheet is designed to be printed on an A4 sheet of paper and live by a designer or developer's desk, to make life a bit easier. A description of what is on the cheat sheet follows, or if you are impatient, you can go straight to the full size Regular Expressions cheat sheet.

This time, they've posted it in a few different formats, including a torrent file to make for faster/easier download. They still have the usual methods (PDF and PNG) but you'll need to visit the page for those links - it's been requested not to directly link to them.

Davey Shafikhas created a cheat sheet useful for any developer out there using a database, one to remind you of the filtering and escaping techniques to use before putting data into your database or outputting it to your site.

After having two conversation on escaping data for MySQL? insertion within 5 minutes of each other in ##php@freenode, I decided to created a cheat sheet on Filtering & Escaping in general.

I think what most people are not aware of is that not just outputting to the browser is output. So it querying a database, or calling one of the exec functions, or even using the mail function (not mentioned on the cheat sheet, perhaps for v2.

Davey Shafikhas created a cheat sheet useful for any developer out there using a database, one to remind you of the filtering and escaping techniques to use before putting data into your database or outputting it to your site.

After having two conversation on escaping data for MySQL? insertion within 5 minutes of each other in ##php@freenode, I decided to created a cheat sheet on Filtering & Escaping in general.

I think what most people are not aware of is that not just outputting to the browser is output. So it querying a database, or calling one of the exec functions, or even using the mail function (not mentioned on the cheat sheet, perhaps for v2.

Here's my Markdown. It's great to be able to write in (nearly) plain English - say, for submitting something for print - and being able to dump the same text down into the blog and have it work on the web. Setting aside writing-for-web vs. writing-for-print issues, I find this a great help.

And PHP Markdown Extra adds a few niceties, like Markdown inside HTML block tags, simple tables, and definition lists. It just drops straight into WordPress and away you go.

For more information on Markdow (or it's use in PHP), you can check out the Markdown manual first and the PHP one to follow up...